The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Balearic Islands have been an autonomous region of Spain since 1983.[4] There are two small islands off the coast of Mallorca: Cabrera (southeast of Palma) and Dragonera (west of Palma). The anthem of Mallorca is "La Balanguera".

Like the other Balearic Islands of Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, the island is an extremely popular holiday destination, particularly for tourists from Germany and the United Kingdom. The international airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport, is one of the busiest in Spain; it was used by 28.0 million passengers in 2017, increasing every year since 2012.[5]

The name derives from Classical Latininsula maior, "larger island". Later, in Medieval Latin, this became Maiorica, "the larger one", in comparison to Menorca, "the smaller one".

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Little is recorded of the earliest inhabitants of the island. Burial chambers and traces of habitation from the Neolithic period (6000–4000 BC) have been discovered, particularly the prehistoric settlements called talaiots, or talayots. They raised Bronze Age megaliths as part of their Talaiotic culture.[7] A non-exhaustive list is the following:

In 427, Gunderic and the Vandals captured the island. Geiseric, son of Gunderic, governed Majorca and used it as his base to loot and plunder settlements around the Mediterranean,[11][better source needed] until Roman rule was restored in 465.

From 1479, the Crown of Aragon was in dynastic union with that of Castile. The Barbary corsairs of North Africa often attacked the Balearic Islands, and in response, the people built coastal watchtowers and fortified churches. In 1570, King Philip II of Spain and his advisors were considering complete evacuation of the Balearic islands.[13]

In the early 18th century, the War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the replacement of that dynastic union with a unified Spanish monarchy under the rule of the new Bourbon Dynasty. The last episode of the War of Spanish Succession was the conquest of the island of Mallorca. It took place on 2 July 1715 when the island capitulated to the arrival of a Bourbon fleet. In 1716, the Nueva Planta decrees made Majorca part of the Spanish province of Baleares, roughly the same to present-day Illes Balears province and autonomous community.[citation needed]

A Nationalist stronghold at the start of the Spanish Civil War, Majorca was subjected to an amphibious landing, on 16 August 1936, aimed at driving the Nationalists from Majorca and reclaiming the island for the Republic. Although the Republicans heavily outnumbered their opponents and managed to push 12 km (7.5 mi) inland, superior Nationalist air power, provided mainly by Fascist Italy as part of the Italian occupation of Majorca, forced the Republicans to retreat and to leave the island completely by 12 September. Those events became known as the Battle of Majorca.[14]

Since the 1950s, the advent of mass tourism has transformed the island into a destination for foreign visitors and attracted many service workers from mainland Spain. The boom in tourism caused Palma to grow significantly.

In the 21st century, urban redevelopment, under the so‑called Pla Mirall (English "Mirror Plan"), attracted groups of immigrant workers from outside the European Union, especially from Africa and South America.[15]

The climate of Majorca is a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), with mild and stormy winters and hot, bright, dry summers. Precipitation in the Serra de Tramuntana is markedly higher. Summers are hot in the plains, and winters mild, getting colder in the Tramuntana range, where brief episodes of snow during the winter are not unusual. The two wettest months in Mallorca are October and December.[16]

The northern coast is rugged and has many cliffs. The central zone, extending from Palma, is a generally flat, fertile plain known as Es Pla. The island has a variety of caves both above and below sea – two of the caves, the above sea levelCoves dels Hams and the Coves del Drach, also contain underground lakes and are open to tours. Both are located near the eastern coastal town of Porto Cristo. Small uninhabited islands lie off the southern and western coasts; the Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca (in the municipality of Palma), while Dragonara is administratively included in the municipality of Andratx. Other notable areas include the Alfabia Mountains, Es Cornadors and Cap de Formentor.

Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria (Catalan: Arxiduc Lluís Salvador) was the architect of tourism in the Balearic Islands. He first arrived on the island in 1867, travelling under his title "Count of Neuendorf". He later settled on Majorca, buying up wild areas of land in order to preserve and enjoy them. Nowadays, a number of trekking routes are named after him.[22]

Ludwig Salvator loved the island of Majorca. He became fluent in Catalan, carried out research into the island's flora and fauna, history, and culture to produce his main work, Die Balearen, an extremely comprehensive collection of books about the Balearic Islands, consisting of 7 volumes. It took him 22 years to complete.[23]

The Polish composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin, together with French writer Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin (pseudonym: George Sand), resided in Valldemossa in the winter of 1838–39. Apparently, Chopin's health had already deteriorated and his doctor recommended that he go to the Balearic Islands to recuperate, where he still spent a rather miserable winter.[24][25]

Nonetheless, his time in Majorca was a productive period for Chopin. He managed to finish the Preludes, Op. 28, that he started writing in 1835. He was also able to undertake work on his Ballade No. 2, Op. 38; two Polonaises, Op. 40; and the Scherzo No. 3, Op. 39.[26]

French writer Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin (pseudonym: George Sand), at that time in a relationship with Chopin, described her stay in Majorca in A Winter in Majorca, published in 1855. Other famous writers used Majorca as the setting for their works: While on the island, the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío started writing the novel El oro de Mallorca, and wrote several poems, such as La isla de oro.[27] Many of the works of Baltasar Porcel take place in Majorca. Ira Levin set part of his dystopian novel This Perfect Day in Majorca, making the island a centre of resistance in a world otherwise dominated by a computer.

Jorge Luis Borges visited Majorca twice, accompanied by his family.[29] He published his poems La estrella (1920) and Catedral (1921) in the regional magazine Baleares.[30] The latter poem shows his admiration for the monumental Cathedral of Palma.[31]

The Ball dels Cossiers is the island's traditional dance. It is believed to have been imported from Catalonia in the 13th or 14th century, after the Argonian conquest of the island under King Jaime I.[35] In the dance, three pairs of dancers, who are typically male, defend a "Lady," who is played by a man or a woman, from a demon or devil. Another Majorcan dance is Correfoc, an elaborate festival of dance and pyrotechnics that is also of Catalan origin. The island's folk music strongly resembles that of Catalonia, and is centered around traditional instruments like the xeremia (bagpipes) and guitarra de canya (a reed or bone xylophone-like instrument suspended from the neck).[36] While folk music is still played and enjoyed by many on the island, a number of other musical traditions have become popular in Majorca in the 21st century, including electronic dance music, classical music, and jazz, all of which have annual festivals on the island.[37]

Joan Miró, a Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist, had close ties to the island throughout his life, he married Pilar Juncosa in Palma in 1929 and settled permanently in Majorca in 1954.[38] The Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró in Majorca has a collection of his works. Es Baluard in Palma is a museum of modern and contemporary art which exhibits the work of Balearic artists and artists related to the Balearic Islands.

In 2005, there were over 2,400 restaurants on the island of Majorca according to the Majorcan Tourist Board, ranging from small bars to full restaurants.[citation needed] Olives and almonds are typical of the Majorcan diet. Among the foods that are typical from Majorca are sobrassada, arròs brut (saffron rice cooked with chicken, pork and vegetables), and the sweet pastry ensaïmada. Also Pa amb oli is a popular dish. [40]

The main language spoken on the island is Catalan.[41] The two official languages of Majorca are Catalan and Spanish.[41] The local dialect of Catalan spoken in the island is mallorquín, with slightly different variants in most villages. The education is bilingual in Catalan and Spanish, with some knowledge of English.[42]

In 2012, the then-governing People's Party announced its intention to end preferential treatment for Catalan in the island's schools to bring parity to the two languages of the island. It was said that this could lead Majorcan Catalan to become extinct in the fairly near future, as it was being used in a situation of diglossia in favour of the Spanish language.[43] As of 2016[update], with the most recent election in May 2015 sweeping a pro-Catalan party and president into power, the Popular Party's policy of trilingualism has been dismantled,[44] making this outcome unlikely.

Since the 1950s, Majorca has become a major tourist destination, and the tourism business has become the main source of revenue for the island.[45] In 2001, the island received millions of tourists, and the boom in the tourism industry has provided significant growth in the economy of the country.[citation needed]

The island's popularity as a tourist destination has steadily grown since the 1950s, with many artists and academics choosing to visit and live on the island. Visitors to Majorca continued to increase with holiday makers in the 1970s approaching 3 million a year. In 2010 over 6 million visitors came to Majorca. In 2013, Majorca was visited by nearly 9.5 million tourists, and the Balearic Islands as a whole reached 13 million tourists.[46]

Majorca has been jokingly referred to as the 17th Federal State of Germany, due to the high number of German tourists.[47][48]

With thousands of rooms available Majorca's economy is largely dependent on its tourism industry. Holiday makers are attracted by the large number of beaches, warm weather, and high-quality tourist amenities.

Attempts to build illegally caused a scandal in 2006 in Port Andratx that the newspaper El País named "caso Andratx".[49] A main reason for illegal building permits, corruption and black market construction is that communities have few ways to finance themselves other than through permits.[50] The former mayor was incarcerated since 2009 after being prosecuted for taking bribes to permit illegal housebuilding.[51][52]

The autonomous government for the island, called Consell Insular de Mallorca (Majorca Insular Council), is responsible for culture, roads, railways (see Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca) and municipal administration. The current president (as of June 2015) is Miquel Ensenyat, of More for Mallorca.

The members of the Spanish Royal Family spend their summer holidays[54] in Majorca where the Marivent Palace is located.[55] The Marivent Palace is the royal family's summer residence. While most royal residences are administered by Patrimonio Nacional, the Marivent Palace, in Palma de Mallorca, one of many Spanish royal sites, is under the care of Government of the Balearic Islands. As a private residence it is rarely used for official business. Typically, the whole family meets there and on the Fortuna yacht, where they take part in sailing competitions.[56] The Marivent Palace is used for some unofficial business, as when President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela visited King Juan Carlos in 2008[57] to mend their relationship and normalize diplomatic relations after the King famously[58] said to him, "Why don't you shut up?" during the Ibero-American Summit in November 2007.[59]

^ abArticle 4 of the "Estatut d'autonomia de les Illes Balears" [Statute of Autonomy of the Balearic Islands] (PDF) (in Catalan). 2007. Catalan language, Balearic Islands' own language, will have, together with the Spanish language, the character of official language.